


Eleventh Time's A Charm

by orphan_account



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Body Horror, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Jefferson needs to stop drop and roll outta my life, Max doesn't get a break at all in this one, Mental Health Issues, Rachel is still dead but much alive from flashbacks, more tags will most likely be added when the story progresses, none of the characters get a break tbh now that i think, this is a little out of my comfort zone, this story is going to show a much different Max, this story will probably be edited over time because I learn new things everyday
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-06-07 14:00:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6807916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max is trying so hard to save everyone-- even if it has already taken 10 times to do so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Genesis

**Author's Note:**

> I don't have a beta yet so u kno, might have some misspelled words and grammar errors, but I tried u feel. Also I might start another story along-side with this one because I have ideas and it's summer break haha. Enjoy tho

 

**_εїз The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it.  ~Plutarch εїз_ **

* * *

_She feels blood dripping from her nose and sliding down her arms and onto the floor from the tips of her fingers. Her body is bare, currently exposing the paleness of her skin where tones of tiny freckles lay. All that surrounds her is just a pure, blinding whiteness and a camera that seems to be taking her picture every 10 seconds. Her tiny frame shakes in a rather scary way on the ground. She's all alone._

_"He-Hello?" she tries softly, but all that comes out is a sad, sad gasping noise that's a far cry from 'hello.' Frustrated with herself, she tries again with a little more oomph from her gut, "is anyone there?" Nothing changes, including her sad excuse of a voice. The scratch in her throat is just unbearable though- it feels like someone lit a fire in her esophagus._

_Had she been yelling earlier? Why is it gone?_

_The brunette groans quietly out of aggravation, she doesn't know what she did to deserve this. But it turns out that time itself is ready to push her anger even further as a pair of glasses falls right in front of her face._

_Clink!_

_Jefferson's face flashes in front of her, all menacing and evil, but gone as quick as it came. It makes her growl._

_The anger deep inside her starts to warm her face as the atmosphere chills- there are two huge gloved hands in the sky. They seem to be teasing her, constantly reminding her that no matter what she did someone would always end up with him. Including Chloe- that thought earns her a shiver- that was probably one of the worst runs ever because nothing went her way._

_She hears an eerie melodic humming noise along with the sound of someone filling needles- the voices are starting again. Much to her delight..._

 

**_"Seriously though, I could frame any of you in a dark corner, and capture you in a moment of desperation."_ **

 

_The voice echoes loudly in her skull, the brunette lets out a sad sigh, it's been awhile since she herd the voices and she didn't miss them one bit._

_She can taste the Ketamine in her system, a silent scream erupts from her. Her body turns sluggish, but her mind starts to race with a furious panic. 10 times she's been through this but a thousand times through her memories. Memories that she can never talk about because there isn't a therapy group out there for this and every counselor would give her a fake smile as they call a mental hospital. A thousand memories that she can't speak about because every time she does, she'll have to repeat it in another timeline. Her heart trashes against her chest as an unwanted Jasmine scent floods her nostrils, she doesn't want to see her like this again- she doesn't fucking deserve this-_

 

**_"I gave most of the flowers to the other patients here because they need them more than me."_ **

 

_A clap of thunder and pouring rain echoes in Max's mind, she sees Kate appear next to her- she jumped._

_Is it real?_

_Max moves her arm in a sluggish movement, but Kate's body disappears and reappears on the other side of her. The sight makes Max involuntarily weep, there's an ache spreading across her chest like a wildfire and she can't breathe. Max remembers her first conversation with Kate in a timeline so long ago, back when she was innocent and naive, oh how she mourns herself. A tear slides down her cheek, she has only been able to save Kate three times because each time is different and each Kate is different. Someone so sweet and caring is like an onion with millions of layers and she doesn't even know when to start peeling._

_Max fights against the Ketamine and clenches her fists as tight as her teeth from pure anger; Kate's destiny isn't to jump off a building, it isn't for her to be put in the dark room, and it certainly isn't for Kate to hate Max's guts and never speak to her again. Her veins tingle with Ketamine as Kate's body rolls towards her, the humming returns with a feeling of panic swaying in the air. It's not her panicking, it's someone else. _

 

**_"Max? Max, are you okay!? Who did this to you- no, I bet it was Nathan! I'll beat his fucking face in, I don't care what you told me, I won't let anyone hurt you like that, I swear!"_**

 

_Her cheeks throb at the mention of this timeline. It was the fifth time back and Warren had found her in the middle of an abandoned Two Whales parkinglot with her face housing 25 cuts from a box cutter and bruises all over her body. She remembers how Warren was crying more than she was at the time because someone had hurt her and she couldn't even remember who did it. She heard him mutter profanities and endless threats to whoever did the damage to her._

_Warren was always sweet to her in almost every timeline. Warren's personality never changed either, he was always a chemistry nerd and it was going to stay that way. She remembers how he had touched her so delicately when he picked her up, how much he was shaking- he was truly an earthquake in that moment. So worried and scared, so scared to blink in case that would've been the last time he saw Max._

_The brunette smiles numbly, the Ketamine mixing in with the thoughts about how safe she felt with Warren made her feel warm and cozy ,even though her body seems to be floating in a white nothingness with random people and objects from her flashbacks reappearing and disappearing._

_Her body does a vicious horizontal flip that unsettles her stomach even more. A soft hand lazily cradles her head, it's uncomfortable. She isn't one for human contact anymore, time has ruined that for her. The hand seems to sense her uneasiness, slowly sliding its touch off of her body. The action awakens her body with chills and sensitivity. Stuff she wasn't used to,there were no surprises that could scare or excite her anymore, too many variables and not enough fucks to give really. But that doesn't mean that she lost her strong curiosity, no, that's still there and strong. Probably never going to leave._

_She sullenly nods to herself and casts a glance at Kate's body, it smells and she can't remember if this injury was from her jumping off a building or getting ran over by Victoria's car; the body of her dear friend has been rotting in the ground for far too long to analyse properly. All she knows is that it hurt like a bitch to watch both scenes play out. She can still feel the pain tearing up the inside linings of her stomach. The wind blows. It's a spiritual wind, but Max wouldn't consider it anything else because it's her. Strong, but soft and peaceful, but eerie._

 

**_"Now I'll never be a star!"_ **

 

_A light voice yells in agony, it's Rachel. A blue feathered earring swirls around her body and lands perfectly balanced on Kate's dainty nose, it makes her think of Nathan and how he would love to have a picture of that. Especially since Kate's body is all battered up and the feather is so vibrant and clean. Just the idea of it would be so cool to him, he always had a knack for both the clean and gory._

_A bright blue flash colors the white oblivion for a split second with a loud clicking noise that makes her heart skip a beat; she sees a polaroid drift in the air above her and land on her breast._

_What's the photo?_

_It's picture of Kate and the feather, but instead of a white background it's near a computer. The same computer that's located in the dark room. The brunette starts to sweat, she can't remember if this even happened in any of the timelines so far, or is this a sign of some sort? Is she going to have to go through this hell ten more times? Perhaps someone is sending her a clue? Does the picture come back with her person if she wakes up or restarts? Is she in the dark room and drugged out like a piece of meat on a crisp white cover on the ground?_

_Something jaggedly sharp stabs right through her stomach, causing her body to thrust forward. A scream that isn't hers shatters through her eardrums. "Shit," Max groans, is this what being shot feels like?_

 

  _ **"I can't move my hands, Max! Help me, Max! Please!"**_

_Duct tape bounds Max's hands in a death grip right before her eyes as Victoria's screaming becomes more shrill and loud. The brunette actively struggles against the tape that's attempting to mummify her alive._

_**"I'm sorry for everything! I avoided Nath-"**  
_

_**"My life is hell! I never meant to hurt Rachel, Kate, anyone, or even you! I never wanted to hurt anyone! I'm sorry, everyone hates me!"** _

 

_Nathan's dialogue repeats like a mantra over Victoria's screaming, the sounds ricocheting rapidly off the (quickly crumbling) walls of Max's mind._

 

_**"Nathan is like everybody's voodoo doll, you know what they say 'kill the rich kid!'"** _

_**"Man, I can see the headlines now!"** _

_**"Leave them out of this, bitch!"** _

_**"Nathan Prescott is a punk ass who begs like a little girl and talks to himself! 'Where?' you might ask, oh, in the girl's bathroom!"** _

 

_The different voices add up in volume, it sounds like someone is banging on the door, but there is no door. It's in a rhythmic pattern too: 1. Rest. 2. Rest. 3an'a4. Rest._

_Repeating over and over again in canons._

_The next line of dialogue rings loud and clear above the others as she looks deeply into his eyes, she knows it's fake but he seems so helpless. He seems ready to die._

 

_**"I'm sorry, Max. Jefferson will be here any minute now and hopefully all this shit will end soon."**  _

 

_He's gone. Jefferson's hands that were floating above her are gone, Jefferson's glasses are gone, but the camera is still there._

_All the voices cut away from her mind a beat after the word 'soon', it's dead silent other than the quiet spiritual wind that whooshes in the background. Rachel never left, 10 times of this damn week and she never left Caulfield's side._

_The brunette's chest rises and falls quickly, this has happened to her multiple times, but never this harsh. It was a bit weird to her, she never understood the voices, or its purpose, it just hppened one day and kept coming back. Coming back stronger with more different phrases and images- horrifying. Last time there was never a rhythmic beating noise or a polaroid that she could touch, there were never that many different sentences piling up on each other in a round. But the intensity of them seemed so familiar, like it'd happened to her in a past life or something of that sort. Perhaps her mind was starting its own time loop._

_It's make sense if it was._

_Kate's body sluggishly sits up on its own and rotates towards her, she's smiling- chipped, broken teeth and all. The brunette struggles not to vomit, she could bet a hundred dollars that if this were real, maggots and flies would be having their way with her body. It smells, the light jasmine scent is replaced with the smell of rotting flesh and despair._

_The wind begins to flicker, flickering and coming back louder and stronger than before, like someone is tampering with Rachel and she's fighting back._

_It stops and the duct tape rips suddenly off her naked body, leaving a pleasant stinging sensation behind. A beat of silence and then Rachel embodies out of nowhere in front of her from nothing, she looks horrified. She's shaking, but she forces Max in her drugged state to stand up._

_"You need to leave, Max! Now! Go, go before he gets you!" The late beaut whispers urgently in her ears, strong small hands beat at Max's angry red skin. She doesn't understand, who could get her here? Where ever the hell "here" is anyways..._

_"Rachel, I- I don't understand..." Max's slow voice trails off, legs give out beneath her weight and Rachel's arms encircle her body in a warm embrace. One heart beats fast, skipping many beats while one starts to slow from the drugs and the adrenaline rush leaving her system. She feels the same two small hands grab her face and she's looking somewhere at Rachel's. She wants to wipe away Rachel's tears, but something just seems so off. Off about Rachel, she senses something very wrong._

_"Max you listen to me loud and cle-clear." Rachel rasps sternly, "I don't care how you do it, but please get me out of here! It's so- it's so- ow!" Rachel's body lurches forward in pain, her neck bulges and Max watches her try to swallow the thing down. Something is trying to escape her. It looks big._

_"How do I save you? Where are you other than just rotting in the ground? Is there something I missed?"_

_"Shit- Max here, just take this note, it'll be with you when you- you return to the real word. Fuck!" The beauty drops Max's face and stands up only to bend back over in pain. Caulfield watches in a curious horror as her peer gags. She doesn't let go of the note thought because she doesn't know if it'll fall or not._

_Whoosh._

_Loud gusts of Rachel's wind sound through the oblivion as Max watches millions of azure blue and blood red butterflies spew from Rachel's mouth. The beauty's eyes are glazed, it's painful to watch, but beautiful at the same time. The butterflies swirl in a strange spiral and flutter downward into the blinding whiteness until they're out of sight, she can still here the faint sounds of the wings flapping though. The model falls to the ground, blood floods out of her mouth and falls to somewhere below. Another polaroid falls onto Max's body, she stuffs it into her left hand with the note and other photo. They'll be helpful. Somehow._

_Max looks for Kate's body but realizes that she's gone._

_"There, just like that!" Jefferson's voice booms in her ear,she feels her heart drop, she had forgotten about the camera taking her photo. He doesn't get to disrespect her like that, he just doesn't! The brunette slowly starts to make her way towards the overgrown creep, but he vanishes and reappears on the opposite side of where she just walked from. She wants to puke from the look of arousal and interest in his eyes. She would kill him, but Arcadia wouldn't let certain people die before they were supposed to go, Jeffershit was apparently one of those oh-so-special people._

_"You'll pay for this, you won't even see it coming," she threatens him in a low voice, she's trying to keep her emotions inside. Keep a resting bitch face and he won't be interested, just do what you did that last five times, you'll be fine! Max keeps that mantra going in her mind as she repeatedly stalks after the teacher._

_"Oh, Max, you're doing so well that you would give both Nathan and Rachel a run for their money!" He moans with joy, it's fucking sick._

_"What about Kate? She had the most photos out of all of the girls, including her sister, Lynn Marsh. Is Kate not good enough for you? You disrespect her privacy and then have the audacity to act as if she's a piece of trash and wasn't worth your space?"_

_"We both know that Kate is such a cute young lady and I'm into that, but her purity, it's not as pure as yours. Her purity has been tampered with, it feels forced to me. Maybe your Christian friend isn't as vanilla as we thought. Hmm?" Anger flares across her chest in blotchy red patches._

_Breath in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out._

_"Tell me about Nathan, why is he such a good model?" Did Nathan even consent to it?_

_"Oh Max, Nathan is just a little boy. He's hard on the outside but he wants to be held and loved on the inside. He's barely bark and not bite at all, it's so something I love to explore. When he's drugged around me he trusts me so much that he's so pure. He's also so much more than a good model, you get what I'm saying?" Jefferson finishes it off with a sly wink that makes Max's jaw drop._

_"You- you- you raped him!?" She hears the click of the camera but she doesn't care, it explains so much and it infuriates her._

_"Now, I wouldn't say that I raped him, but he did say yes to it and he seemed to enjoy himself- even if he was sloppy most of the time."_

_"Was he drugged?"_

_"When was Nathan ever not taking drugs?" Jefferson gives a low chuckle, "he's a charming young man anyways, who would say no to him when it's been a long day and he's basically offering himself to you? You wouldn't."_

_"I would, I care for him, more than you ever did or will!"_

_"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." He sings while another click goes off. He vanishes and appears right behind Max with his camera and she doesn't have enough time to move away._

_"Get away! NO! STOP, I SAID NO!" His breath is hot in her ear as his strong arms encircle her vulnerable naked body, pushing himself roughly against her, "stop," she squeaks. His hands slide up slowly from her hips to cup her breasts, the trail of his hands leaving a sensitive, gross hot feeling in its wake._

_"Oh Max," he thrusts his clothed erection against her backside,"the things you do to me."_

"STOP!" Max screams and lurches forward, only to have her midsection collide with her desk.

 

_**Remember Max, my Number One Rule of Photography: Always take the shot.** _


	2. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls who are stuck in time spill some tea together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh sorry for the super long hiatus, my life got really shitty! I wasn't even going to attempt to even write anymore of this, but I kind of made a new year resolution to finish something I wrote this year. I'm not saying I'm going to be a saint at updating but I'm going to try because writing lets me get away for awhile... Even if it's writing about a girl who is going mad. I guess I'm just writing this note to let anyone who is still reading this know that I'm still going to be writing this even if it takes me awhile to update. Peace peace :)

 

**_εїз You will never be free until you free yourself from the prison of your own false thoughts. ~Philip Arnold εїз_ **

* * *

 

Her body's still burning from his touch, burning with sensitivity and vulnerability. The desk creates a thin bar of coolness across the lingering trail of heat, she feels the tears start to well up in her irritated eyes. The brunette can hear her blood roaring around in her head, it causes her ears to painfully pound. She can feel them vibrating. It feels as if the tornado is inside her with every beat of her heart, with every memory of Jefferson's thrust to her backside. 

   _She didn't fucking deserve that._

She sniffles quietly and runs a hand through her hair-- it's dampened in a gross, cold sweat from the voices. The episodes might be over for now, but she can still hear the little fragments of dialogue in her head, repeating like a quiet voicemail that no one will answer: 

         ** _"I'm in a nightmare and I can't-_**

**_Okay girl, you don't get a photo op like this one everyday_ **

**_-so SICK of people trying to control me_ **

**_Oh Max, you fucked up my shot_ **

**_You can rewind time, Max! That's fucking insane! We have to play!"_ **

****They're so quiet in the back of her head, always repeating because _they never left her head since the first week._ The only part that she doesn't get about these quotes are that they never change unlike the voices and these quotes don't really go together. The people -including herself- don't really go together.

   _Well, none of this bullshit exactly makes sense, Max_ , she thinks bitterly to herself. Swallowing what little saliva  and dignity she has left, she decides to open her eyes and face whatever the hell time has to throw at her.

Max's eyes nearly fly out of her head, when she realizes that she's back at the beginning of the infamous week of where this shit first started. But then she also notices that she is also fucking stuck in a freeze frame. Having no idea what this meant, the brunette starts up out of her chair only to sit straight back down again. The brunette fights off a grunt from the insane stabbing feeling at the back of her neck.  Stubbornly, she decides to try once more, but apparently, the third time isn't such a charm as people say it to be. The familiar taste of iron leaking into her mouth appears and starts became stronger by each sluggish second that passes.

           _Holy fuck, was time travel having its way with her body. She doesn't have time for this shit. The variables, Max! The variables._

She had to think quick, she knew what would happen if something too big or too small happened, it means that all hell with break loose because of the stupid butterfly effect. A scowl grows on her face as she think about how ridiculous the butterfly effect really is. When people think of it, they think of how they can eat healthy all that week and lose a pound or two in the long run, or something as worthless as getting a date.  _If I wear this black suit and tie to the dance tomorrow, maybe Blake will actually like me!_

    Typical. It makes her roll her eyes in embarrassment of the naive human race, she's embarrassed that people choose to live their lives thinking about things and making them seem like fairytales-- when they're really only Satan's bedtime stories.

      It's sad, really.

What they _didn't get_ was that the stupid thing was really about the looks you sent certain people. _'Who were these certain people?'_ you might ask. Well, these are people who actual play a role in the timeline, or people who have part of the power of changing the whole timeline. The hardest part was that there isn't just a few of them, _no, there's tons of them._ Tons of these specific people means that there are tons of different variables that come into play during each timeline, _tons of variables that Max has to keep track of._ It's probably the reason why she keeps on failing at saving everyone, or that she's just straight up terrible at being the superhero people believes her to be. But she ends up thinking it's the former of the two, just to protect her deflating ego she once had plenty of _(not.)_

The brunette hastily wipes away some of the blood that was rushing into her mouth and onto the ground; each beginning of the timeline bullshit always had its surprises, she guesses with a faint smile tugging at her lips.

     She remembers when she loved surprises, the thrill of something new and exciting happening to her-- the happy adrenaline part used to be one of her favorite things too.

           But the universe didn't seem to give a _flying fuck_ about what she _used_ to be like and what she _used_ to like; no, it fucked her in the ass and made her hate surprises, she wasn't even looking towards her birthday anymore. Or even next week, because it's foreign to her, it feels like her whole life has just been this week. _It actually basically might as well have been her life._

Max slowly shakes her head in thought, she's dealt with being thrown into the middle of Chloe and Nathan's argument, the tornado vision, Rachel herself yelling at her to get her shit together, and more, but a freeze frame beginning has her stumped. She looks around at her classmates, the last 10 times have been reset and they're all being themselves. Excited to be back with their friends at Blackwell, but bored as hell to be sitting in a lecture, but being taught by Mark Jefferson is worth it. 

The thought of his name repulses her and the skin of her body starts to burn and cover with goosebumps, she still feels his hands on her. Sliding at a sickeningly slow pace to harshly grab at her breasts and drag the too rough pads of his thumbs over her nipples. She starts to gag at the feeling, _oh what she would give to kill the sick bastard._ The brunette's gaze sets out to find the teacher, but he isn't in his original spot anymore. But it's still frozen, how is he moving? He can't possibly give her a helpful hint like Rachel, or anyone else of the spiritually endowed can. Isn't her mind too exhausted yet from fucking around too much with time for her to be imagining things? 

   _Most importantly, where did he even go?_

A sigh slides from her mouth in exhaustion, her heart is still beating 50 miles a minute and she still can't stand up without an invisible sword stabbing through her head. Loudly, she starts to tap what's left of her fingernails on her desk.

   _What to do..._

_What to do..._

_What to do..._

Her fingers quickly stop tapping upon the wood and start to fidget on her face, it's wet but she's not crying. The wetness feels exactly like the mixture of tears and blood, but she's not crying. Some part of her face always seems to be leaking blood, but she's not crying. Or maybe, just maybe she is, maybe she's crying but just doesn't know. Yeah that's it.

" _Oh Max, the things you do to me,"_ bright, blue eyes widen in fear at the voice, at the breath that cascades in a sharp, stinging slow motion down her neck and seeps into her spine like a sick, burning acid. Her small frame jerks forward involuntarily as the sides of her vision flood with blood red and fade back to normal again. _Fuck!_ Her head hurts so damn much. A groan escapes her, ultimately betraying her body as Jefferson takes her sound of pain as a sound of sweet pleasure. "Max, I've always known that we would end up together-- always known that my hard work would pay off. I deserve to have a life-long model like you, Max, such a beaut!" Jefferson grossly inhales the scent of her sweaty hair with a loud sniffing noise, "I'm just so obsessed with you and no one is going to change that. Right,  _Maxine?_ " His arms are around her waist again with his chin on her shoulder, the sound of her full name is like a savory poison gliding into her ear that makes her want to vomit. She can't believe that he was once her role model.

"I _will_ be the last girl, mark my words, you filthy asshole!" her voice is coarse as she yells in his ear, her whole face is drenched in water when he flips her body to face him. The cold water feels like it's hitting her face in angry beads.

"You will be my last model, Maxine! You're perfect and no one will top you." He says, his hands roughly grab both sides of her soaked face. "Mark, pardon the obvious pun here, _my words, Max_ , you're going to be an even better model than Nathan. I will make sure of that." His voice fades with a strong wind, it's not Rachel though, it's different.

A different spirit, but she doesn't know who or what it is, but it wants attention.

Her face is jerked out of Jefferson's grip and doused in more freezing water-- _well, she's definitely not crying._

Her two arms reach out in front of her to embrace her fall onto the muddy trail that leads to lighthouse. She's come full circle and it only took 10 repeats of the same week to do so. The brunette stands up only to raise an eyebrow when an image flashes across her mind-- it's of the frozen classroom. She doubles over in pain from standing, maybe she's still in the classroom. Maybe she has been in the classroom since the voices and maybe--

_Holy fuck, what if she's been making a scene for everyone to see?_

The sound of the tornado roars loudly over the crouched girl. The sound is almost deafening at first, but she adjusts quickly though, understanding that she doesn't exactly have the privilege to dilly dally in actually seeing if her mental state is prepared for whatever mess this is (even though she knows the answer is already a firm _no_ ).

Her body still hurt like a bitch from when she tried to stand, so she does the only other logical way up the lighthouse-- she starts to crawl up the trail. She doesn't really have a choice, she doesn't have the time to be sitting in mud for who knows how long. The trail is loaded with thousands upon thousands of jagged rocks which dig themselves uncomfortably deep in her palms and knees from where her jeans tore. She's sure that she's leaving a small trail of blood from how serious the cuts are.

  It's gross just thinking about it.

Her body moves in jerky movements as she slowly but surely continues her journey to the lighthouse. The cuts forming on her body start to sting. She stop abruptly and sighs irritably, this whole environment was just a lot to her. She hadn't been in the tornado vision for quite sometime, something always came up before Chloe and her appeared up there by the lighthouse. She couldn't exactly say she missed it or anything, each time she sees her hometown get eaten up by the storm, a small part of her dies inside. 

So many people would give anything to see this happen to their hometown, but she doesn't understand. Your hometown is the home to your family, childhood friends, old teachers, lessons, and just memories in general-- why do people want to burn all of that in hell?

  She thinks about the first time living through this week, thinks about how she felt when she thought that she couldn't save everyone. She thinks about how she almost just left this week behind with just Chloe-- how selfish she could've been. She thinks about all the possibilities she almost ditched when Chloe's grip was ever so strong in front of the swirling storm. The brunette scoffs at herself, she was such a dumbass back in the day. Who in their right mind would sacrifice a whole town for just one person. Best friend, lover, family member, God himself- it's selfish. It's also human nature too.

   But Max had learned something from this though, something that many people wouldn't even dare to think about-- something that people are too scared to admit. Sacrificing Chloe is the most loving thing that she could have done for her and no one is going to ever change her stance on that. No one. No one was ever going to be able to convince her in the slightest way that she didn't claim to love Chloe as much as she did, they would be stupid to think that.

Stopping to catch her breath, she decides to really check and see if she still has the photos and most importantly the note Rachel had given her. It's a shot in the dark to see if it's actually possible for it to be on her person, but the universe (or should she say universes?) has a messed up way of telling her that anything is possible. Taking a deep breath, she hesitantly grabs at the inside of her small bag.

   Nothing. As in nothing "Rachel" had given to her was in the bag. Max sighs in slight disappointment at her discovery. 

 _Honestly, what the hell was she thinking? Has time really started messing with her idea of logic?_ She ponders. Her lips purse and she finally sits down on the ground. She doesn't know if she's supposed to be surprised or not, doesn't know whether she should just laugh at herself for awhile or not. Voices are the things in her head, things inside your head usually stay there because they aren't _real and they should stay that way._

The brunette sniffles as she turns her head up to look at the grayish sky that swirls violently in dark colors and the remains of what's left of the town. She just looks at the sky, like it's supposed to give her a sign for something. A sign to tell her that Rachel could still be alive, that there is a chance she can save everyone. Even if that meant she would have to sacrifice herself in the long run. She just needed a little more help, perhaps a little more time too.

 _Like Arcadia would give you yet another hint as you've fucked the town over ten times in a row, of course it would,_ she scoffs to herself. She blinks slowly and looks down at her lap that's covered in splotches of dark browns and deep reds. She feels a soft thud in her head as a blood red butterfly lands on her knee.

She cradles her forehead in both hands as another thud occurs and another one after that. Fast and steady like her head as its own heartbeat. She clenches both of her eyes shut as a way of trying to deal with the pain. Needless to say-- it doesn't work, but wanting to feel good after so long made you do small things like these that didn't help much.

A loud crack of thunder startles Max's eyes open, she sees the tiny small blood red butterfly perches on a branch on the ground. It's about three feet away from her, but the butterfly doesn't look all that bothered to be sitting in the middle of Arcadia's tenth great fall. The brunette sniffs once more and brushes some of the stray hairs away from her face to get a better look at the insect. A smile tugs at her features when she sees the wings twitch, she's never seen a butterfly this color before. Chloe would have loved to see this.

"Max, I said to help me, not sit around on a muddy trail staring at the ground!" Rachel's loud voice makes Max roll her eyes and sigh. Rachel always had this thing of coming into her mind when she either thought of Chloe or was just trying to catch her breath.

"I'm not staring at the ground, I'm looking at this butterfly." The awe in Max's voice makes Rachel sigh. Caulfield never ever changed in that way, she always had a knack for 'photo ops.' But this wasn't the time to be thinking about her friend and cool butterflies she couldn't even see-- it literally looks like Max is just staring at a rock right now, right now it's the time to get her out of here and save Arcadia Bay. The model was getting desperate to say the least.

"Max, please! I can't even see the butterfly, can you just move along? You're just wasting time!" Rachel pleads as both of her shaking, clasped hands move towards the brunettes confused face.

 _Why can't Rachel see her own spirit animal?_ Max thinks to herself, maybe it has something to do with the change in color. Going from a vibrant blue that's full of life to blood red that's so dull it could bore a man to death. It has to be an important sign or signal, only a signal that she can see apparently. _But what does it mean?_

She sighs quietly and stores the information in her head for later, it has to mean something other than change. "Rachel," Max starts, "you know that I want to help you and the town so much, but I don't know how. There are too many variables and rules, I'm still going to try but it's exhausting." The photographer inwardly winces about how whiny she sounds. She was never talented at voicing her thoughts aloud. The model looks at her for a few seconds, face scrunched in thought until she gets an idea.

"Well, perhaps if you save me first, I can help you!" Rachel exclaims happily and paces excitedly back and forth in front of Max-- which causes the latter to let out an annoyed sigh.

"Rachel, you don't get it, you're a variable too!"

"What?" Rachel's pacing comes to a standstill,"I- I don't understand, Max. I can- I can _help_ you-"

"So could Chloe, Nathan, Warren, Kate, or hell- even Dana and Juliet could have helped me Rachel." Max interrupts quickly, "what makes you any different?"

"I'm Rachel Amber, Max! Imagine if I come back. I remember everything you've been through, I can help prevent tons of those things, if not all of 'em!"

"No, no you can't, Rachel. You know what happened when you didn't come back, everything will change if I find you-"

"Which, you will right? I mean I've helped you for so long..." Rachel trails off when she sees Max's glare from cutting her off. "Uh, continue?"

"You're a variable Rachel, I mean that in the nicest way possible, but that's what you are. I don't know what happens when I bring you into the picture. I don't want to go through another ten times being stuck in this week, I just want to live my life! I just want Chloe to be okay, I want Kate and Nathan to live, Warren to become a cool scientist, Jeffershit dead, and everyone else alive and striving for what they want to be in life. I don't want them to have to experience Kate jumping off a building _again,_  or Nathan shooting Chloe in the school bathroom _again_ , experiencing Nathan's plethora of different voicemails _again_ , and especially not the storm! But I finally got it through my head that I _can't_ save everyone, no matter how hard I try, something bites me in the ass. It's hard, Rachel." Max swallows the thick saliva that starts to flood her throat, she will not cry. "I want to save you, I do! I think about how you never got as many chances as I did to fix what you did. I think about how you didn't know-- I put myself in your shoes and I get overwhelmed with anxiety. _I could've been you,"_ her voice cracks with emotion at the end of her speech.

Max watches quietly as Rachel takes in what she just said. It's a slow process of the girl just standing in the pouring rain and just biting her lips with her melancholy gaze locked on Max's hopeless one. She's speechless but it's Rachel and she has to say something.

After a long minute, Rachel sighs heavily with exhaustion, "I really hate to be this person, Max, but try harder."

    _What?_

"Oh, fuck you, Rachel." Max spits angrily in the girl's face and continues her slow crawl up the trail. Sadly, Rachel is still walking beside her trying to explain herself.

* * *

After ten more minutes of quick breaks and arguing with Rachel, Max finally reaches the top. It's honestly the only thing she has achieved this whole week if she's being honest.

She sits at the edge of the cliff near the map and watches the storm, it gets bigger each and every time Max sees it though. Max looks over to her right and looks at Rachel sitting next to her with a solemn look coating her features. She feels bad for Rachel, she does. But she's trying her hardest and it doesn't even work out for her half of the time, how is she supposed to balance actually finding Rachel on the mountain of problems there are already? Amber just doesn't get what she's going through. Sure there is a slight understanding between them because they are both ultimately 'the girls stuck in time', but it's just different.

"Stop pitying me." 

"Rachel, you know I'm trying my hardest, right?" Max asks quietly as she begins to rub Rachel's back. The brunette still found it odd that Rachel was never drenched this whole time.

"Yeah, because screwing Nathan all last timeline was totally you trying your best, huh? Is that your way for showing that you care for him also? Substituting lust with love is how you play it, right? I mean isn't that what you did with Chloe too?" Rachel growls, "who's next? Warren? Me?"

"Rachel, I love both of them so much. I'm sorry I thought about what I wanted, but in my defense, last time I was so close. It was such a great plan and everyone was safe." Max answers softly, she doesn't remember much of the ending of the last time; all she remembers is sneaking into the Dark Room and everything after was a blur.

"Yeah yeah, I remember," the model sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. "You, Chloe, and Warren would break in the Dark Room, have Nathan beat the living hell out of Mark, Warren was walking around with gloves and trying to make it look like a bigger crime scene along with Chloe, you were preparing to call the police. Or something along those lines." It was a very shitty and slightly wrong description of the plan, but Max will take what she can get out of her. Rachel was also very uncooperative when annoyed, _tread with your own risk_!

The brunette hums in acknowledgment, "I suppose it is. I just wish I knew what went wrong. You know? My memory is gone, but I guess that's what I get for messing with time." She watches Rachel's face get even more depressing than it first was after she speaks.

"Max... Nathan- Nate, he killed you." Rachel whispers so quietly that Max barely is able to catch it.

_She wish she hadn't._

"What do you mean? He wouldn't betray me just like that at the end of the plan!" Max exclaims and bolts upright in n angry astonishment. " _Agh!_ My head!" Her rain soaked hands cradle at her head, s _he isn't supposed to stand_. But she refuses to sit back down when Rachel tells her too, she _can't._ She can't sit down during a moment in time like this! Her boyfriend from the last timeline just betrayed her like that--killed her! And she couldn't even remember it, or how he did it.

 _Now, isn't that just something?_ Max scoffs bitterly to herself.

 Completely ignoring Rachel's attempts to do whatever she was trying to do, she swipes angrily at the newspaper that flutters by. She scans it and nothing is different-- except one thing, she barely sees it because she's so upset, but she's glad she did. "Rachel! Rachel look at this!"

"I swear your mood gets lifted by the littlest things, Max." Rachel mutters as she takes the newspaper from the young photographer, only to gasp in surprise. "Oh _boy_ , a tornado is still coming!" She yells sarcastically at the tornado.

"No, _the date_ , you idiot," Max sighs and holds a piece of the newspaper, attempting to help point out the date. "The date is stated here is October 12th, it happens a day later this time, so... I have an extra day!" 

"Oh, so you have a bigger chance of saving me?" Rachel's voice is light, like she's fading away and it goes without Max noticing. Rachel notices.

"Yes! I have a bigger chance of saving everyone! Rachel this is-" Rachel's pained groaned puts a slight pause to Max's small celebration. Her nose is like a running blood faucet. "Are- Are you okay?" Max asks dumbly.

"Yeah. I think I'll be okay, I'm Rachel Amber you know? This is _nothing_ , go on. I want to hear what you have to say." Rachel answers through red-stained, clenched teeth.

"It- It hurts to be here? You're not okay aren't you..." Max trails off. This is Rachel's first time ever being in human form in her tornado vision, what if she isn't meant to be here? "You're not supposed to be here, are you?" Max jumps when she sees the tornado grow right before her eyes, it's heading right towards them.

"Max, I'm the one causing your visions. I gave you this power! I messed up when I had them, I created this whole timeloop and I'm stuck here. I'm missing in action, but I'm still alive somewhere. I don't know where it is though, but it's a dark room and Jefferson visits me all the time." Rachel pauses and gives a sad laugh, "I guess people are right in a way, I did run off to be a model."

Max gasps, suddenly Nathan's furious scribbles of 'Rachel in the Dark Room' make a little sense, but how does he fit into this?

"Why me? How come not Chloe, or Frank? You didn't even know me." Max asks, already trying to piece together theories to work on.

"I love Chloe and Frank to death, but they couldn't handle it. I went on a limb and tried Nathan, but the drugs he takes didn't really mix with it. So the day he shot Chloe, I saw you. I took another huge leap of faith and damn, I'm so happy I did. You have to help me, please. I want to live happily again and see what the world actually has to offer me. Busting Jefferson won't stop the storm, Max. Finding me and not using your powers will."

"How would finding you stop the storm?"

"I _am_ the storm, Max! I can't control it and I can't explain it, but I know deep in my gut, I can end it if I'm found."

"Rachel, _please_ give me something more to go o-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot more of the gang come in next chapter, hopefully I don't fuck up their characters!! Feedback and thoughts are appreciated tho :)

**Author's Note:**

> validate mE pLS


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